To Love A Dark Bird
by FallingDarkAngel
Summary: 'Life doesn't always go the way we plan, sometimes it strays from the path we thought we'd stay on; massively so.' Raven knew this to be all too true. With everything going to hell, she now has to make up for her choices in life and try her hardest to get back onto the right path; mending the wounds she caused. And she caused some pretty big wounds. RobXRaeXBB- I love your reviews!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, this is my new story, just kinda came to me! I hope you enjoy and please review! **

**Thanks a bunch**

**Oh and I don't own Teen Titans or DC comics or anything like that.**

**Review kay?**

* * *

**Chapter One**

Raven placed the newspaper down on her desk, sighing as she leant back in the leather computer chair. She brought both index fingers to her temples a rubbed the skin in small circles. They were on the front once more, unstoppable, unbreakable Titans. They had dropped the 'Teen' five years ago when Robin entered his twenties, not that she had been there when they changed their super group name; it had been eight years since she left jump city, _eight._ She wasn't even sure why she continued to ask Neel to make sure she got a copy of The Jump Times at least once a week.

Gotham city was her home now, it had been for a long time; she had made a good life her for herself here, an accomplished writer and the youngest business partner of Bruce Wayne at Wayne Enterprises. Admittedly she did miss the Titans, she missed them with all her heart, it hadn't been long after they defeated her father that she left; without even a goodbye. Her circumstance was a difficult one and to an onlooker who didn't see the big picture, they would be 's why she had to leave.

It would have been difficult for all involved, it wouldn't have been fair to stay; to do that to everyone involved… even if she did miss two of them more than the other. The three of them were close, perhaps _too_ close.

Enough.

She let out a growl and shook her head, turning to the Gotham News paper and took it off the desk; flicking it open with a rattle. Although she stared at the black printed word her mind was wondering back to the Titans.

**Knock, knock**

She glanced up towards the door before glancing at her 'why-would-anyone-spend-that-much-on-a' watch, a smile gracing her features. "Come in." She called folding the paper back up and placing it on the desk.

The door opened and in walked a tall man, his hair was slicked back and black, his dark grey eyes connecting with hers causing him to bow his head. "They are home."

"Thank you, Neel." She smiled standing up and walking around the large desk that sat in the middle of the room. Neel had been a recommended butler to her from Bruce Wayne himself, she would have never of thought to have one but when her, at the time, boss suggested it she couldn't refuse.

Neel bowed his head once more before exiting the room, his footsteps becoming fainter the further away he got but instead they were replaced by the sounds of two pairs of feet running towards her direction.

"Mum!" The two voices cried in unison, crashing into the room; grins on their faces.

Raven bent down and held her arms outstretched, waiting for them to crash into her so she could pull them into a cuddle. "I missed you rats!" She spoke as the two wrapped their arms around her. "I'm sorry I couldn't come with you but I'm so glad you're home."

"Nice of you to call us rats, mum." The boy spoke with sarcasm thick in his voice but laughed when his mother tickled his side.

"It was _so_ much fun mum! It sucks you had to work… again." The girl sighed resting her head against her mothers chest.

"I promise next time we will go as a family, okay Skye, Embern?"

The twins were about to celebrate their seventh birthday, it was three weeks away and they had been excited for the last six. Raven lifted the two children into her arms and made way for the door, god they had gotten heavier since she last had to do this. They both cuddled into her, arms wrapped around each other; she was thankful her children never asked about their father… it was a complicated issue…

They both had a different father.

Embern belonged to Robin and if you looked at him you would able to tell straight away, from his brooding nature to his jet black hair, his skin wasn't as pale as his mothers and he had bright blue eyes. He was born exactly ten minutes before his twin sister and he was one of the taller boys for his age.

Skye belonged to Beastboy, from her toothy grin to her nicely pointed ears to her cheeky behaviour; she screamed Beastboy. Her straight dark green hair went down her back, her eyes a bright indigo, skin pale like Raven's; she was short for her age and acted like she was the younger one of the two.

This was how things got complicated.

Although they were indeed twins she had managed to fall pregnant to both Beastboy and Robin on the night just after they had defeated her father.

* * *

"_I… I have had too much!" Starfire giggled, staggering to her feet from her seated position, frowning instantly. She placed her hands on the table top and steadied herself, after a moment the smile came back onto her face. "I wish to head to bed.""Night Star." Raven smiled, she had never felt more free or alive in her life! The alcohol might have helped but she was generally happy, finally ridding of the man that taunted her thoughts, her dreams, her mind._

"_I gotta' call it too, lil' sis!" Cyborg bellowed with a grin. "I got a date with my lovely lady tomorrow and I gotta' sleep for that! Glad you're free from your father!"_

_Raven nodded her head, the moment causing her vision to spin; this causing her to giggle. The sound came from her lips like heaven to the two seated boys, they had never heard her laugh before and upon hearing it; they wished they had of heard it before hand. She turned to look at the two boys, a pure smile on her lips. "More?" She asked holding up the bottle of tequila._

"_Hit me, baby!" Beastboy grinned, wriggling his eyebrows at her._

_Robin simply lifted his hand and whacked Beastboy across the head, receiving a grunt from Beastboy and a giggle from Raven; this made him smirk. He had started to fall for the dark beauty a year ago but he knew that Beastboy had, had a thing for her a long time before that._

"_You… too Robin?" She asked pouring the tequila, smiling at him; yep, she was drunk._

_Robin nodded his head placing his hands around his shot glass, watching the liquid pour into it. "We did well today, Titans."_

"_Yeah, dude!" Beastboy grinned bringing his shot up to 'cheers' them with Raven and Robin. "Awesome victory and now Raven's demon father is gone!"_

_Raven looked down at the small slice of lemon in front of Beastboy, pulling her bottom lip back in her teeth. Her mind was too clouded with alcohol, she would __never__ think of ever showing them this side of her otherwise. She picked up the lemon and placed the skin side in her mouth, corner of her lips moving up to a smirk; staring at Beastboy._

_Beastboy stared at her with wide eyes, looking at the lemon casually hanging out of her mouth. Robin saw that Beastboy was in utter shock and chuckled. "She wants you do to this…" He licked the salt off his hand, downed the shot then leaned forward and took the lemon from Raven's lips before dropping the lemon to the side and replacing his lips against hers._

_Beastboy watched as the boy wonder pulled the teen closer, bringing his fingers up into her short purple hair; tangling them. Raven wrapped her arms around his neck, keeping herself close to him and pulling herself into his lap._

"… _Mine turn…" Beastboy spoke up._

_Raven broke away from Robin and pulled Robin's slice of lemon into her mouth, extending her finger out to him, calling him over._

* * *

"Miss Roth." Neel's voice broke her intense concentration.

Raven blinked furiously before looking at Neel. "Yes?" She asked slightly flushed at the memory. She didn't remember much of the night in question, just that when she had woke up she had woken up in both their arms, intertwined with both. It had sent her emotions into such over drive that even though she could show her emotions, too many and too much at once caused her powers to shatter the windows into pieces.

"Master Wayne is on the phone for you, he says it's important." Neel answered.

Skye whined staring at her mother with frustrated eyes. "We only just got back, mum! Can't we have your attention for a little bit!"

Raven looked at her daughter's sad face, she looked like the splitting image of her father, right down to the puppy dog eyes. "…How important is it?"

"He says very." Neel held out the mobile phone clutched in his white gloved hand. "I will watch the children."

Skye sat on the chair at the large glass table with her arms folded across her chest, cheeks puffed out, holding her breath; frowning. Raven sighed looking from her pouting daughter to the mobile phone before dropping her head and grabbing the phone. "Hello?"

Embern watched his mother quickly exit the living room, he then turned to look towards Skye and rolled his eyes. "Stop that, Skye. You know mum has to work."

"That's right, Skye. Your mother works very hard to make sure you can have everything you want." Neel lifted the water jug and poured the two children a drink of water. He had grown attached to Raven and her children, it had been six years of service and if he was allowed, it would be as long as possible.

Skye sighed, unfolding her arms and taking the glass. "…Thank you Neel…"

Raven walked through the hallway passing the countless art works that hung along the wall, phone pressed tightly against her ear. Bruce was her boss, yes, but every now and then he would need her help on a bat case. He was very much of a 'I work alone' man but when he was truly in need of someone with Raven's skill her called her without a second thought. He had taken her in when he first met her as a sixteen year old mother of twins, on the promises that he wouldn't tell Robin he knew where she was and to not ask about her children's other parent… "Bruce… Skye and Embern just got home…"

"I understand that, Raven but this is important." She rolled her eyes at the serious tone of his voice, this was important.

"…Bruce…""You might need to stay here for awhile-""I can't do that to them, Bruce. They haven't seen me for two weeks as it is due to the fact they went over to Canada with their school."

There was a silence on the other end of the phone for a moment. "Bring them with you, Neel too."

"Bruce I…""It's important, Raven. I haven't seen the children since they were three anyway."

'_There's a reason for that…' _Raven clenched her jaw trying to come up with a good enough excuse to get out of it, but her mind betrayed her; she swore under her breath and stopped walking towards her 'office' room. "… alright…"

"See you soon, I'll have Alfred bring a car around."

Raven's top lip curled, the call ending just like that. Bruce had a way of both pissing her off and making her smile at his care for her; even if that wasn't always shown. She was hoping to just have been able to spend some time with her children but of course, duty calls. She turned on her heels and headed back towards the dinning room.

"Neel, since mama is busy, do you want to hear about our trip?" Raven heard Skye's way-too-loud, as she called it, voice call through the hallways.

"I'm here, I'm here." Raven spoke walking into the dinning room, her children finishing up their lunch, grins appearing on their faces as she entered. "I'm sorry Skye but Mister Wayne needed me for work."

"Is everything alright, Miss?" Neel asked about ready to clear the dishes.

Raven rubbed the back of her neck and looked at her children. "I'm sorry but." She was interrupted by the loud sound of her children's sighs, they knew that when she started with an 'I'm sorry but', they knew she was off to work. "Let me finish." She growled. "Mister Wayne needs me to head over to the manor but I have to stay there for a while; so Neel I need you to pack the children's suitcases, along with your own."

"We're going to the Wayne Manor!" Embern busted with excitement, standing up on his chair and looking at his mother with wide eyes. "We haven't been there since we were three!"

"How do you member' so long ago?" Skye asked, prodding her brother in the ribs.

Embern sighed, Raven bit back the chuckle; he had sounded so much like his father. "I keep telling you Skye, I have a photographic memory."

"Come along, children, we shall pack your things." Neel said holding out his gloved hand for Skye, the young girl taking his hand into her own. "Embern." He nodded and jumped off the chair, he stopped for a moment and looked towards Raven. "I'm so glad you're taking us this time, mum! We'll have our birthday as a family!" And with that he ran off after his sister.

* * *

Raven had let out another sigh, the empty suitcase sat open on her bed, clothes in piles beside it. She was planning on never taking her children back to Bruce, not since Embern become the splitting image of his father. He wouldn't be fooled upon seeing him; the man did after all raise Robin. She found herself in the situation where someone would know Embern's father, it was a situation she didn't want to be in and when Embern was a baby; she thought she'd be alright.

She never regretting having her children, ever. But she often wondered if she made the right choice in not telling Robin and Beastboy. It wasn't until the children were born that Raven had found out that they were half-siblings, conceived at the same time; but by two different now the twins were almost about to turn seven, herself almost twenty three, without Beastboy or Robin having any idea if Raven was alive, or that they each had a child. She didn't even have the guts to leave a note to them, she just up and left.

'_Coward'_

"Is there something wrong, miss?" Neel asked from the doorway, he had a knack for always being there for her, listening to her problems and often giving good advice; Raven had grown to love her butler as one of the stared at her half packed suitcase for a moment, then turned and smiled softly at Neel but he knew it was her fake smile instantly. "Life, perhaps." She answered half heartedly.

"You have not taken Skye and Embern to see Master Wayne since they were three… does it have something to do with that?"

Raven sighed, smile leaving her features as fast as it had came; Neel knew her too well, knew her slightest give-aways. "That was back when Embern looked just like me…"

"And now, Miss?"

Raven turned back towards her suitcase, picking up a black hoodie, folding it and placing it neatly into the case. She hadn't ever told anyone anything about the twins fathers, how could see? She didn't even mean for it to happen, it had been a bad choice on her part… not that she didn't care about Robin and Beastboy, they were her friends; even if she didn't always act like it.

She glanced back over her shoulder and saw Neel still standing there. "Embern looks just like his father, now." She sighed grabbing a pair of jeans. "…Skye looks just like her dad…"

Neel walked towards her, taking one of the shirts in her messy pile and folding it neatly. "They look nothing alike."

"Exactly." Raven sighed, head dropping in embarrassment. "The children have different fathers."

It felt strange hearing the words said out loud. They echoed around the room making her cringe, it made her feel different when she said it out loud; she was just waiting for the judgemental scoff from Neel or the different looks. "Quite remarkable accomplishment there, Miss." Neel said lightly.

She looked at him pushing her almost-bottom length black hair out of her face, half way down the length of her hair the black turned into her natural purple colour right down to the tips. She had defiantly grown up since she had fled from the Titans, her body became curvier, hair longer, an inch or two taller, more womanly than teen. She had lost the baby weight quite easily by getting back into training as soon as the twins had been born.

"You're allowed to judge me, Neel… I know everyone else will. Titan slut, they shall call me…"

"We don't define ourselves by the situations we get ourselves caught in, we define ourselves by how we handle the situation once we are in it."

Raven was thankful she had Neel, he had been the biggest saint since Bruce Wayne himself. She sent him a small smile before using her body to nudge him gently. "Is your bag packed?"

Neel gave a swift nod of his head. "I have already packed, Miss, I will go help the children finish up."

"You're a saint." Raven muttered, flipping through the pile of clothes on her bed, she heard him tell her that he had gone to the liberty of packing her some dressed and to that she growled. "Can't help himself…"

It had been half an hour later that the stretch black limo had arrived at Raven's Mansion, windscreen wipers on frantically trying to clear the rain that was once again falling from Gotham's sky. Neel held an umbrella over the children while Alfred, Bruce's butler, helped Raven load the suitcases into the car while she kept a black shield over the top of them.

Alfred sat in the back of the limo with them while the limo started up and the driver exited Raven's. She could tell Alfred was staring at Embern, of course he was, he had raised Robin as well.

"It has been a long time, Master Embern, Lady Skye." Alfred spoke, sending a polite smile to the two children.

"Three years, eleven months, one week, eleven hours and twenty… four minutes." Embern grinned at the butler, clearly excited about heading back to Bruce's estate."I see that memory is still just as sharp since I saw you last, Lady Skye, how are you?"Skye grinned shyly and hugged more into her mother's side. "Good thank you, Sir." Alfred's wrinkled features softened and he smiled at the little girl, not many people called _him_ sir.

Raven fidgeted with her fingers which rested in her lap, Neel and Skye on either side of her, Embern beside Alfred; grinning. She hadn't felt so nervous in a long time, in fact the last time she had felt truly nervous was just before the twins were born. She could sense Alfred looking between herself and Embern but stayed silent, she knew what he was thinking- where the hell did Skye come from?

Skye only took her mother's pale skin and eyes, everything else was Beastboy; she looked the most out of place out of the three of them. At least back when Embern looked like Raven everyone else just assume Skye took after her father, but now… it was just confusing.

Raven felt irritated by the butlers constant glances and clasped her hands tightly together. "Is something wrong, Alfred?" She asked through gritted teeth."Of course not, miss Roth."

"Mum." Embern called out to her, breaking the eye contact she and Alfred had. She turned her head to look at him and raised an eyebrow. "Can I sit in the batman car?"

Raven stared at him with a blank expression but she caught the looks of the two butlers. "No, I didn't tell him." She sighed.

"Tell me what?" Embern asked looking between the three adults, then towards Skye.

"Nobody's meant to know Mister Wayne is batman, silly." Skye stated simply, still slightly behind her mother.

"How do you two know?" Raven sighed once more.

Embern looked back towards her, a small grin forming. "It's pretty obvious, mum."

Neel tried not to laugh while Alfred sighed. "Nobody else can know, children."

The rest of the car ride was mostly silent, Embern asked questions about 'batman' while Skye slowly warmed up to the older man; 'coming out of her shell'. But the closer they came to Wayne Manor, the more Raven had to really fight herself to calm down; she was nervous. Neel could tell she was freaking out and gently nudged into her, subtly, that only she turned to look at him.

"Don't worry, Raven, Bruce will not judge you." His voice was low, sweet and kind. It gave her a little reassurance and her tight fists relaxed just a little, he only ever called her by her name when he knew she needed comfort on a more personal level.

The limo came to a halt and within seconds Embern was pushing the door open and leaping out into the rain; far too excited. Raven sighed and quickly followed, a black shield forming above their heads, protecting them from the rain. Skye slide out of the car next, instantly hiding behind her mothers legs while Embern jumped up and down on the spot.

"Embern! Is that you, my boy?" His voice was so distinguishable, she could pick up on his voice in an instantly.

"Hello Mister Wayne!" Embern smiled, trying his hardest to contain his excitement to finally being back at the Wayne Manor. Raven had a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from moving closer to Bruce, she knew she couldn't hold him there forever but just that little bit longer was needed.

Both Neel and Alfred came up behind her, their bags in hand; she knew this was it. She released Embern's shoulder and took Skye's before walking towards the manor. She looked up to see Bruce looking at them, she felt her heart beat faster the closer they went to ran to him, stopping just in front, looking up at him with a large smile on his face. Bruce looked down at the young boy and as he did Raven saw the expression that crossed his face instantly.

He knew.

She pulled back her bottom lip with her teeth and came to a stop just in front of him, Alfred leading Neel into the house so the bags wouldn't become wet. Raven stared down at Embern, trying to avoid any eye contact with him; she felt his eyes burn holes in the side of her face."Children, run along inside and get warm!" He gave Embern's hair a ruffle. "I need to speak to your mother."

"Come on, children." Alfred spoke up from inside. "We shall make some hot coco and have cookies."

To this Skye's ears twitched and her head poked out from behind Raven's legs, Skye was very much like her father; she loved her food. She walked up to Embern and took his hand, pulling him towards Alfred without a sound; leaving her mother to fend for herself.

Bruce took the front door's handle into his hand and slowly closed the door, giving them a little privacy. "So, this is why I haven't seen the children."

Raven rubbed the back of her neck, her hands left like ice but she was too nervous to move it away. "…Well…"Bruce looked at her for a moment, she hadn't moved her position or even looked up at him; so he continued. "So you didn't want Robin to know your where about because you had his children."

"…Child…"

To this Bruce raised an eyebrow. "Child?"

Raven shifted on her feet, finally working up the courage to look in the general direction of him. "… Embern is… he is Robin's…" She swallowed hard, it felt like sandpaper sliding down her throat. "…Skye… She… she is Beastboy's…."

Bruce's face stayed blank, unreadable by Raven. The silence was deafening and she wished it desperately to end, him yelling at her would be better than this horrid silence. "…Bruce…"

"I wish you had told me, Raven." He interrupted turning back towards the front door. "I could understand you wanting to keep it to yourself but I wish you had told me."

Raven watched him opened the door and step inside, turning and holding the door open for her. "… I'm sorry, Bruce… I didn't know how to tell you that… not only was Embern your son's son… but… that… Skye belonged to someone else…" She stepped inside the manor, watching him push the door closed.

Bruce gave her his famous heart melting smile, as if trying to calm her down before she had a meltdown. "It's complicated, I understand." He placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly and gave a squeeze. "There is a reason I called you here, Raven." His voice had turned in an instant, he was no longer Bruce Wayne; he was Batman.

"…What's wrong…"

"There is someone following you, Raven, you and the children. I have information about large criminal operation but I don't know anymore then that, I didn't want to take any chances; you and the children's safety is my top priority."

"How do you know we're involved?"

"… follow…"

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**Review!  
There is an awesome plot line, I promise!  
Also The Titans will be in it soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is chapter two! I hope you enjoy and review!**  
**Thank you to all those who reviewed previously, you have no idea how much motivation you give me to continue.**  
**Next chapter will be up quicker.**  
**Thank you!  
Next chapter will also be longer, because all the Titans reunite!  
**

**Chapter Two**

Raven held one of the photos in her hands, staring at the slightly blurred image; it was of Embern and Skye, holding hands exiting the airport with their school. She placed it down and picked up another, this one was of her sitting in her office reading the newspaper. She turned to look at Bruce; his arms were crossed firmly against his chest, stern look on his face.

"Where did all these come from?" She asked softly turning back to the desk covered in photos of her and her children, they made her uncomfortable.

"They were mailed to me this morning." He answered. "… They know exactly who you are…"

"Of course they do."

Bruce placed his hand on her shoulder; once more trying to reassure her all was fine; even if she didn't believe it herself. "This is why I have brought you here."

It didn't make her feel better, this whole situation made her incredibly uncomfortable for more than one reason. Her children's safety was, of course, her top concern. She had tried hard to get herself away from 'The Teen Titians' ever since she had left Jump City. The media knew her as Rachel, no last name, no other information; just Rachel. Bruce had managed to avoid most questions when it came to Raven's personal life, she was thankful for that. No one picked up on the fact she looked like 'that creepy girl' from the Teen Titans, she found herself thankful for her teenage 'creepiness'.

Raven sighed, her mind was racing but she couldn't really think. "So what do we do?" She finally spoke after what felt like forever.

"You and the children stay here for now, until I figure out what our next step is." Bruce answered the tone of his voice made her feel safe. "It won't be too long and now that I have a grandson and daughter, I will do whatever it takes to find whoever this person is."

Raven stared at Bruce blank faced but on the inside she was beaming, he was her saint, he had done so much for her and her children and even though now he knew the children's fathers, he still saw Skye as part of his family. "Thank you, Bruce."

"We can't do much right now so we'll have to continue on as normal. No doubt they know you're here now. It's their move."

Raven nodded, she threw one of the photos of her and Neel cooking dinner together back into the box in which it came. "Do you think Neel is in danger too?""Can't be too careful." He replied in a dark voice, Raven knew when Bruce fell into 'batman' mode; he was distant, hard and dark. He wasn't the Bruce Wayne who felt like her best friend and saviour.

"Thank you, for bringing us here and showing me this." Raven pushed on the desk, rising to her feet. "I haven't seen my children for what feels like a life time. No more about this until the next step."

Bruce nodded moving towards his office door to open it for her. "Raven, this is going to be big." He said. "Be careful, always."

Raven returned his nod, knowing quite well that this was just the very tip of the iceberg. Bruce pulled open the door, holding it open for her while the two exited his office and made way for the kitchen.

Skye ran up to her mother with her arms outstretched, Raven smiled and bent down to scoop her up in her arms. "Mama, Neel said we can make cupcakes for our birthday!"

"I'm sure you'll have fun, Skye." Raven smiled softly carrying her daughter towards the two male butlers. "Thank you for watching them while Bruce and I spoke."

"That is quite alright, Miss Roth." Alfred smiled politely. "It has been wonderful catching up with the children."

"Alfred I'll need you to hurry up and prepare for tonight."

Raven turned to look at Bruce, an eye brow raised in confusion. "What is tonight?"

"We have a business party to host; this has been planned since January." Bruce replied.

Skye's face broke into a huge smile, her grip on her mothers shoulders tightened; a cruse muttered under Raven's breath, she had sharp claws. "Can we attend this one?" She shrieked causing all adults in the room to cringe.

"I don't know…" Raven began, glancing at Bruce as if begging for help out of this; she hated the idea of her children being around the media.

"Please, mum?" Embern asked stumbling out from behind the kitchen counter. "We promise to behave!" "Yeah we'll be extra good!" Skye chimed.

Raven was at a loss for a reason as to why she could say no, the party was at the Wayne manor as it was; it had been the second time today her brain her betrayed her. "… Ok…."

A loud squeal from Skye had interrupted her mid-sentence as she pulled out of her mother's arms, dropping beside Embern and taking his hand. "To our room!"And within second Embern had melted the two of them into the ground, disappearing from sight. Bruce was chuckling quietly to himself. "They got out before you could change your mind."

"You could have helped, Bruce." Her voice wavered on dangerous, her eyes slanting into a glare.

Bruce just gave her his typical 'playboy' smirk, receiving a roll of the eyes in return. "I see no reason why they shouldn't, Raven. From the looks of things neither did you."

Raven frowned, which only made Bruce's smirk grow bigger. "If the party is tonight, why is the manor nowhere near ready?"

"Alfred does his best work under pressure." Bruce answered looking at his butler who kept his face blank but raised an eyebrow which caused Raven to crack a smile. "He's just being modest, plus he has help now."

Before it had even clicked with Raven about what he meant Bruce had vanished leaving Raven with the two butlers, she glanced towards them once more and gave a shrug. "We're happy to help, Alfred."

"Are you sure, Miss? Alfred and I-""Nonsense Neel." She interrupted waving her hands. "I'm the one with the powers after all." She gave the two boys a flash smile and turned to look down the hallway. _"Skye! Embern!" _Raven had found out a lot about her and her children's certain connections, she could telepathically communicate with them as long as they were within radius of her.

A dark puddle appeared on the floor just in front of her feet, in the distance she saw a blur of tan and black spots sprinting towards her; Skye had gotten much faster. Skye ran hard giving a leap towards her mother, skidding to a stop just as Embern appeared."I won!" Skye panted beside the two of them, her cheetah tongue flopping out of her mouth. "I… actually beat you!"

"Awesome!" Embern grinned giving her a ruffle of her head fur. "You're getting quick!"

Skye was bounding around him, her tail whipping about in excitement. "I know!""Sorry for interrupting your party here, you two, but I called you for a reason." Raven said, folding her arms across her chest and raising an eyebrow at her twins.

"Sorry mama." Skye panted, still not able to catch her breath from the race.

"We're going to help Neel and Alfred set up for the party tonight, that's they deal. If you two want to go you have to help out, okay?" Raven folded her arms across her chest and gave both of them a stern look. "And I mean help."

"Yes mum." They both droned out simultaneously, Raven rolled her eyes; they were so 'twin-like'.

Surprisingly the afternoon passed quickly and the work even quicker, Alfred found it a joy to have them help him like this. Raven felt it was amusing how Embern would boss about Skye, standing on things to make himself taller then pointing to where he wanted Skye to put things; just like Robin would. As soon as the work was done Alfred collected the children to get them ready while Neel took Raven to her room, giving her the outfit he had picked out for the event.

"Neel." Raven sighed from behind the bathroom door. "This is… this isn't me…"

"That's kind of the point." He answered bluntly standing in front of the door waiting for her to exit the bathroom in her dress, he was getting over this banter the two constantly had.

"You know if I didn't like you so much you'd have been fired by now."

"My dear lady, if I didn't like you so much I'd have quit by now."

Raven laughed, she loved Neel and his ability to give it back to her just as much as she gave it out; she was grateful to have him. She pulled open the bathroom door with a dramatic sigh attached to it, her hair was in soft ringlets, make up dramatic around her eyes yet still very gentle, her little black dress hugged her curves and showed off her gorgeous legs. Neel felt his heart skip a beat; she had a grin on her face, still amused by his earlier comment, pushing the hair out of her face.

Raven saw him just staring at her and sighed. "See, I look ridicules."

"You look beautiful, my lady." Neel replied all too quickly, he cleared his throat and added. "The perfect face for Mister Wayne's company."

Raven sighed once again stepping to his side and looking in the large mirror in front of them, she tugged down on the dress, trying to make it longer. "Thanks Neel." She spoke softly, nudging into his side.

"Any time my lady…" Neel answered just a quietly, clearing his throat once more and swallowing hard.

Raven tilted her head to look up towards him, her eyes catching his as soon as she did, a smile on her lips. "Mummy! Don't I look beautiful?" Skye sung bursting into the room, spinning as she did so.

Her dark green curls spun around with her, along with her lovely pink dress which went down to her knees showing off her cute black shoes. Embern stood beside her in his suit, hair spiked up still but he looked very handsome. "You both look so old." She said in a monotone. "Stop growing up."

"We'll stop when you do, mama." Skye answered flashing her famous Beastboy toothy grin, it pained a little too see it… she missed him… both of them… all of them.

Raven smiled gave her daughter a smile. "Now you two have to promise to behave, I am at this party to work."

"We all know Skye will be stuffing her face the whole night." Embern smirked at his sister, nudging her side and receiving a squeal. "I'll behave mum, promise."

Raven nodded holding her hands out for her children, the two took her hand and walked by her side while Alfred and Neel lead them too the event for this evening. Once the children entered the main hall they quickly released their mothers hand and ran off in different directions, Raven frowned looking in both directions. Neel touched her arm lightly forcing her too look towards him, he moved his head in the direction of Bruce before following after Skye.

'_So grateful'_ Raven thought with a relived sigh, making her way though the guests and towards Bruce. Bruce looked handsome as always in his top of the line business suit.

"Ah Raven, you look beautiful." He said once she reached his side. "Neel always picks well for you."

Raven rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You look nice."

She stood beside Bruce, clearly uncomfortable; she couldn't stop fidgeting with her fingers, hair, and dress. "Raven." He said in a calm, quite voice. "Stop fidgeting."

"I don't want to be here." She growled, tugging at her 'much-too-short' dress. "Why did Neel pack this?" She was more muttering to herself now, pulling the dress down as much as possible.

Bruce saw the media advancing on them and quickly slid his arm around Raven's waist, pulling her against him. "Stop fidgeting." he muttered giving a grin towards his media.

Raven knew the routine, she had been his work partner for a little over five years now, she plastered on a fake smile and tried to act as normal as possible. "Can we get a picture?" One of the reports called out first before the explosion of noise that followed it.

Bruce held up his hand to signal them to quite down and within seconds they had silenced again. "One at a time."

"Is it true, Mister Wayne, that your son is here?"

"What?" Raven and Bruce spoke at the same time, shocked expressions could be shown across both their faces for a split second before they quickly regained themselves… well while Bruce did.

Bruce could tell by Raven's reaction that she was about to panic. He had forgotten to take his son off the list for tonight's events, he had forgotten because Richard Grayson never attended any of his invitations to business parties; ever. "Yeah he was seen entering the Manor." One of the reporters called out, Raven couldn't see which one."Ah that is wonderful news; my son isn't able to attend most my parties." Bruce gave a hard squeeze of Raven side to which she jolted in response, she looked at him to glare but Bruce gave a fake laugh and Raven knew she had to play her looked towards the reporters and gave a charming smile, stepping forward and out of Bruce's grip. "Mister Wayne has invited you all along for a reason, please if you will follow me." She held out her hand, gesturing which way she wanted them to go.

She lead the group through the grand hall in which Wayne Manor hosted the grand event, even though she had helped Alfred and Neel decorate it, along with Skye and Embern; she couldn't help being in awe of how beautiful it truly looked. She had been distracted by the large chandelier hanging from the ceiling and the memories of getting it up there that she hadn't seen a man step in front of her.

She felt herself hit something slightly hard; she let out a surprised kind of yelp and reached up to her forehead which now throbbed lightly. "Oh, forgive me, sir." She spoke through gritted teeth, oh how she hated being 'Rachel'.

"…Raven?…" The voice froze her to the core, she couldn't move, she couldn't breathe; she didn't even have the courage to look up towards the person.

"…Richard…" Bruce tried to hide the strange emotions in his voice, he took a hold of Raven's upper arm and tugged her back to his side. He knew his sons eyes were still firmly placed on Raven and shock was across every inch of his body.

Her eyes met the familiar yet incredibly different bright blue eyes, they seemed to look straight into her soul. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think; her stomach was twisting and knotting, for a moment she wasn't sure if she was going to be sick or not. She knew all eyes were on her but her site never wavered from him. It was an unexpected and unbelievable pain that crushed her, it was pain from so many things at once but not one thing in particular.

"…Rae…? Is that…"

She felt her control on her powers slip and although nothing else made sound to her at all she knew her powers were shattering or exploding things all around her, she sensed the people around her ran away from the exploding objects but her eyes were stuck on Richard's and his her, she couldn't think, she didn't know what to do.

This was bad, this was very bad.

Without another thought she gripped onto Bruce's arm and within a second the two melted into a puddle of dark purple. She couldn't think, she didn't know what to do so her first thought was to head to the roof. The two appeared atop the Manor, the cool air blowing against the skin immediately.

"Shit! Why did I come here?" She growled releasing her grip on Bruce's arm. "He will come looking for me here, he knows me!"

"He knows you're here now, Raven."

Raven paced frantically in front of Bruce, not only had she just used her powers in front of the reporters but she probably had about five minutes max before Robin would reach the roof of this building. Bruce seemed relatively calm and relaxed which made Raven even more irritated. She held her hands out in front of herself and her hands began to glow a faint blue, eyes shinning white and within a second her children appeared in front of her; Skye was stuffing her face with food while Embern had a book in his hands. The two turned to look at their mother with a frown, Skye giving out a whine; she knew they hated it when she teleported them.

"What did you do?" Bruce asked unfolding his arms, eyes opened in slight shock; ha Bruce Wayne wasn't so unshakable.

"We have to go, we can't stay here." Raven took a hold of her children's arms, gently pulling them towards the edge of the building.

"Raven…" Bruce sighed walking after her.

"Raven!" She knew it was his voice, she had heard him yell out her name in anger many times. She turned to look towards the door that lead out to the roof and watched it fling open, hitting the brick wall beside it with a loud thud. "Don't you dare!" He yelled pulling out a bird-a-ring.

Embern and Skye saw this strange man arm himself and within seconds they were in front of their mother, Skye morphed into a large T-rex while Embern stood in front of his mother, hands and eyes glowing a dark blue. Bruce had moved forward and grabbed Robin, holding his hands behind his back.

"Wait!" Raven yelled throwing her hands up, a large black shield separating her and her children from Bruce and Robin. "He wasn't going to hurt me." She breathed unevenly, eyes wide, hair now a mess. "He was going to stop me from running away, Skye, Embern, stand back."

Skye gave a low growl from the back of her throat, turning to look at her mother, Embern keeping his hands and eyes alight. "But mum." He began in a whine."Skye, Embern, back!" She barked in her 'mother' tone and slowly Embern's glow faded, Skye morphing back into her human form.

Robin pulled himself from Bruce's grip and walked up to the shield Raven still held over her and her children. "Where the hell have you been?"

"It's complicated." Raven murmured looking at the shape of his face through the black shield. "You wouldn't understand.""So you up and leave us? Without a word? Just like that? Without a care about _us_?"

"Don't you dare tell me I didn't care about you!" Raven growled. "What I did was for you!""Bullshit!" Robin yelled throwing his fist into her shield, the thud sounding inside the shield."Richard." Bruce spoke in a tone that brought Robin back to his childhood. "You need to calm down and let her explain.""You knew about this, about her being here, all this time!?"

Bruce met his son's angry eyes but kept his face stern, he folded his arms across his chest and stared right back at him. "I hired her, kept her safe, and kept her alive; for you."

"Why didn't you tell me? You knew how long we looked, the days we spent searching for her." Raven heard the disgust when he said the word 'her', he was angry and it showed.

"She asked me not to, Richard, she had her reasons and if you want to hear them I suggest you calm down."

Raven felt her energy drain the longer she held the shield, but if she let the shield drop Robin would be able to see Embern and it would click for him in an instance; Robin was smart. That is why Embern was so incredibly intelligent.

"Raven he has found you, you wont be able to hide it now." Bruce called out to her softly. "It will be tough but you have to now, that shield wont hold forever."

Raven knew Bruce was right, Robin was stubborn. He had found her now, it wouldn't just stop here, and he wouldn't just drop it. He would try to talk to her everyday if she didn't stop this now. She turned to look towards Embern and Skye but Embern was the one her gaze caught. "I'm so… so sorry." She whispered.

Slowly she lowered her hands, the black shield slowly disappearing as she did so. Robin stood with his hands in tight fists, anger across his face but still so like the boy she had fallen for eight years ago. He looked just like the photos in the paper, tall dark and handsome; just like Bruce which Raven found funny considering the two weren't actually related. She saw him look her over, unlike her, he hadn't seen her since she was a fifteen year old weirdo.

Embern didn't like this angry man staring at his mother this way, he moved towards her, frown on his face, arms out stretched to protect her. Raven watched Robin's eyes dart to the little boy and shock hit him in an instance. "I don't care if you are who I think you are." He stated in a loud, clear voice. "You stop being angry with my mum."Bruce laughed to himself. _'so like Richard.'_ He thought with a soft smile. "Who do you think he is, Embern?"

Embern shifted uncomfortably, eyes changing from Bruce slowly back to Robin's. "He's my dad."

Raven felt her heart stop, breath catch harshly in her throat and she knew Robin did the same. Raven dropped to her knees, grabbing Embern's shoulders forcing him to turn and face her. "What did you say?"

"Embern figured it out two years ago, mama." Skye spoke up seeing Embern shut down into his shell. "He figured out who you were… and who our dads were…"

"…dads?" Was the only thing Robin managed to squeak out.

Skye looked towards the man warily. "You aren't my dad." She said quietly pulling on her fingers nervously. "Only Embern's…"

A faint beeping sounded through the awkward silence and Raven knew all too well what the sound was, she looked towards Bruce and saw that look that crossed his face when something was bad. "Bruce… What is it?"

"There's a security breech." He answered, no longer Bruce Wayne, he was now batman.

As if on cue a loud explosion sounded from below, the foundations of Wayne manor shaking beneath their feet, Skye grabbed onto Raven's legs to keep her balance while Embern stumbled about, being steadied only by Bruce.

"Raven… I think this is their move."


End file.
